


Panacea (A Cure for Love)

by Voltwrong



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, KEITH IS THE EMOEST, M/M, Pining, Pining!Keith, Sharing a Bed, Unrequited Love, lance is like... minorly a dick at first, snarky keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-01
Updated: 2017-05-01
Packaged: 2018-10-26 04:35:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10779690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voltwrong/pseuds/Voltwrong
Summary: Keith loves Lance. It's not a declaration, It's a fact of life. Lance does not love Keith. Same idea. Up until now it hasn't been too much of a problem.+++“Things went wrong. Then things wentverywrong. But first there was this: our scientists were looking into a cure for love-”“Love?!” Pidge interrupted, mouth falling open.Erae glanced back at her. “Or infatuation. Lust. Whatever you want to call it. It was simple hormonal suppression. To this day no one’s completely sure what went wrong. The drug that was only meant to end any romantic feelings began eating away at my citizen’s minds. Th-the person they had loved... They forgot. Any memory of that person completely deteriorated.or: Keith contracts an alien disease that wipes your mind of the one you love.





	Panacea (A Cure for Love)

**Author's Note:**

> Basically a slightly modified hanahaki disease trope. Very angsty. Langsty. I promise a happy ending so hold me to that. Enjoy!
> 
> disclaimer: my memory's rusty (ha!), if this violates any canon... fine.

“Simply amazing,” Allura breathed, examining a blue flower cupped in her hands.

“Uh, is this what we came here for?” Lance asked, lips pursed in boredom. “Cause I’m pretty sure I signed up for butt-kicking-space-adventuring, not… gardening,” he dropped the word like dirt on his tongue.

Allura closed her eyes and gave an exasperated sigh. With a bounce of her hands, the flower fractured into a dozen crystalline, butterfly-like creatures, sunlight reflecting off the facets of their wings as they fluttered away. 

“No, of course not,” she said, standing up and brushing off her knees. Keith straightened from where he’d been examining the “flower” beside her and looked at Lance.

“Altea had strong ties to this planet's royal family before the attack. It is only right that I inform them of her fate. And there may be allies to be found here,” she tacked on.

A raspy voice interrupted from behind.

“If you aren’t a fan of gardening you’re in for a nasty bout of disappointment.”

Surprised, the paladins turned towards the unfamiliar voice. A woman in a helmet not too dissimilar to their own stood before them, hand on her hip and head cocked. After a beat of tense silence, Shiro spoke up.

“What do you mean?”

The woman removed her helmet, revealing half a head of elbow length hair. The other half was shaved to display intricate vines and flowers that traveled from her scalp down her neck to disappear beneath her collar. 

Keith could practically hear Lance’s jaw drop and he rolled his eyes in disdain. He did hear it snap shut once Lance had collected himself and stepped forward. His teeth might as well have actually gleamed with how cheesy that grin was

“Madam, I may hate gardening, but if you were a flower I’d pick you first anyday.”

The entire team groaned and Hunk pulled Lance back by his collar, causing him to yell out and stumble backwards. The mystery woman winked and Keith scowled. 

“Agaleth prides itself on it’s gardens,” she explained with a smirk that inexplicably reminded Keith of this asshole stray cat that used to hang around his house.

Eyebrows knit, Allura paid no attention to the prior scene. “I don’t recall that…”

Shrugging, the woman leaned back on the small motorcycle-like craft she must have flown in on. It made Keith long for his own hover cycle lost on Earth. But, you know, a giant, flying death lion was pretty cool too.

“A lot can change in ten millennia, princess,” the woman purred

Realization seemed to strike Allura as she gasped. “Erae!”

The woman- Erae, Keith assumed- laughed as Allura rushed forward and took her hands.

“Princess Allura! It’s been far too long. I’ve heard rumors you were floating around out there again but I didn’t believe it until now. You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do.”

“I know, I know! Trust me, I will. But I just… Oh, it’s so good to see you again!”

“Sorry,” Hunk interrupted, shaking his head and holding a hand up. “You two know each other? As in from the past? As in ten thousand years ago?”

“Yes!” Alurra chimed, still staring at Erae like all her prayers had been answered. “We were dear friends; we grew up together.”

“Oh, well in that case, you look great,” Hunk said as if that explained everything. 

Pidge frowned beside him, helmet balanced under her arm. “Sorry, but how is that possible?”

“The Agalethe’s have a cure for everything. Aging included. _If_ you can afford it,” Allura explained with a chuckle. Something in Erae’s expression twitched at that, her easy smirk suddenly less easy. “Erae is the princess of Agalethe.”

“Queen actually,” she interjected and Allura squealed in delight.

“You must take us to the palace! We’ve so much to catch up on. I was so hoping to find you here.”

Keith realized then what the real intention of this detour was. Though Allura came under the guise of official business, this was an excuse to track down Erae. Keith was surprised. It was out of character for the princess to allow sentimentality to sway her actions.

Erae’s smile softened and she looked away, swinging a leg back over her hover-bike. “Well hop on, princess. You’re going the wrong way. Palace moved.”

“Moved?” Allura questioned, eyebrows knit together. “Whatever for?”

Erae paused, starting up the bike. “Like I said. A lot can change.”

===

Erae hadn’t been lying. The Agalethes _loved_ their gardens. The entire landscape was covered with them, flowers bursting in neatly groomed clusters here and there. Some were tamed into complex patterns and designs, woven through by trails and streams and any rock formation one could imagine. Buildings cropped up every now and then but Erae explained that this was mostly the garden district. “You should see the towns. Once we figured out how to grow vines into infrastructure people went crazy with it.”

It was unbelievably beautiful- everywhere a melding of sheer lilac gemstone and lush green flora- but also… empty.

Lonely, Keith thought.

It took them a while to get there on foot, Erae having to keep the hoverbike at a speed the paladins could match, which obviously vexed her. Of course they had landed on the most remote part of the planet, which Erae said was kept that way for the Palace’s protection.

Shiro walked at the head of the group, keeping close to the two princesses. Hunk had at some point lifted Pidge onto his shoulders. Seeing this, Lance glanced over at Keith, bottom lip stuck out. 

“Carry me, Keith?”

“Fuck off.”

Lance groaned, flailing his limp arms around and nearly slapping Keith. “But it’s _so. far_ ,” he whined. 

Keith just stared. 

“Fine,” Lance huffed then fixed his expression,getting ready to charm someone. 

“Oh _Shiro_.”

Keith looked down to watch the ground beneath his feet and Lance jogged off. Distantly, he heard, “Wha- LANCE! Get off me! What is wrong with-” and Lance’s frenzied protests. He couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Eventually they reached a gate. Or more like an archway. 

It was covered artfully in vines and starting to crumble, which Keith though was a real testament to its age as he doubted they were shabby on the upkeep here. The wall surrounding the archway was covered in moss so thick it could have been mistaken as a hedge, and the structure towered over them all, casting a damp shadow. 

“The palace is beyond this sanctuary,” Erae informed them stiffly, parking her hover-bike and hopping off. Allura jumped down next to her and- picking up on the drop in mood- gave a worried look. 

“What is this a sanctuary of?”

“Memories,” Erae answered wistfully, brushing her hair back and leading them all under the archway.

Keith heard Pidge and Hunk’s gasp and barely suppressed one of his own. He sensed Lance’s interest beside him but Shiro somehow kept up his stony disposition, always looking for an exit, always looking for a threat.

The garden was glowing. The whole sanctuary awash with the same eerie blue light of the butterfly-flower Allura had admired. every plant, flower and creeping moss seemed to be made of iridescent gemstone. 

Keith turned around, taking it all in. He caught sight of Lance who looked beautifully awestruck, jaw slack in a way so unlike the exaggerated way he’d looked at Erae. The blue light almost seemed to come from his own feet, illuminating him and casting upside-down shadows, creeping up his cheekbones. It was very fitting, Keith thought as he tore his eyes away bitterly.

“Welcome to The Memorial. Agalethe’s most sacred place of remembrance,” Erae spoke softly as she continued on through the sanctuary. Keith couldn't help but notice this contemplative, humbled disposition was a stark contrast to Erae’s brazen introduction.

“But who’s coming out here to remember? You’re miles from any town and there are no roads leading out,” Pidge pointed out.

“The memorial is not for them. It is for me and any ruler that may come afterwards,” Erae asserted. 

The paladins exchanged glances, all curious but too afraid to ask for an explanation. 

Allura was the one to finally step forward, laying a cautious hand on her friend’s shoulder. “What happened while I was sleeping?”

Erae looked up at her with an expression that would have been unreadable to anyone else, but Shiro recognized it. Shame, yeah, but shame mixed with something else. Something deeper.

She turned away from Allura, addressing all of the paladins instead.

“Allura was correct. We had a cure for everything- nearly everything- here on Agalethe. Sickness was practically gone. Death was reserved for the very old who couldn’t afford Nectar to stay young.

“Still, we pushed on towards newer, better medicines. People demanded… I-” she cut herself off, taking a second before speaking again. “We kept pushing and pushing and pushing, never realizing we were pushing against a dam. Piling things up until it was bound to break.”

Erae sighed, turning away from Allura and the paladins to place her hand on a crystal pillar that might have been a tree. 

“Things went wrong. Then things went _very_ wrong. But first there was this: our scientists were looking into a cure for love-”

“ _Love?!_ ” Pidge interrupted, mouth falling open. 

Erae glanced back at her. “Or infatuation. Lust. Whatever you want to call it. It was simple hormonal suppression. To this day no one’s completely sure what went wrong. The drug that was only meant to end any romantic feelings began eating away at my citizen’s minds. Th-the person they had loved... They forgot. Any memory of that person completely deteriorated.

“If that wasn’t bad enough the effects began spreading to others who hadn’t even taken the drug. At first it was contained to those with unrequited affections. That puts you in a very specific state, brain chemistry wise, and since these were the people most often taking the cure at first, this was the environment the virus thrived in. 

“But the virus did not discriminate forever and we suddenly had an epidemic on our hands. People forgetting their spouses, lovers, best friends...” she trailed off and shook her head as if it was all too much to continue. 

Completely enraptured by the recounting, the paladins all watched her. She turned, revealing tears on her cheeks, glistening like the plants around them. 

Keith struggled to understand. Sure, it wasn’t an ideal situation. A crappy mistake on the doctor’s parts, but why would Erae be devastated even thousands of years later? Why would she build an entire sanctuary dedicated to a single disease and force herself to walk through it to reach the outside world? Keith hadn’t missed her face as she looked around. She might as well have been walking a path of shattered glass.

“Does the disease still exist?” Shiro asked, voice respectful.

Erae shook her head. “No, we’re all vaccinated now. A cure for the cure,” She chuckled bitterly.

“So... everythings fine. Nobody even died, right?” Keith cut in bluntly. The rest of the group shot him looks, ranging from Hunk’s surprise to Shiro’s disapproval, though Allura’s was the sharpest. He noticed Lance too, looking at him with more distaste than anything. 

“Yes,” Erae started slowly, eyes narrowed. “But the damage was done. The pain caused-”

“What pain? People just forgot, right? If anything they were in pain before, when they were heartbroken.”

“Keith!” Allura snapped. “That’s enough. The pain such an event must have caused.. Imagine instead being the person who was forgotten. You can not possibly understand.”

Keith flushed, clenching his jaw. He couldn’t understand. Because he didn’t _have_ a family to love or forget or be forgotten by, right? She hadn’t said it outright, but he knew what she thought. He was unloved.

“Of course he couldn't,” Lance interjected, smirking. Keith knew he was enjoying this way too much. Keith being scolded for once? What an opportunity.

“Keith’s about as capable of love as the training Gladiator. And trust me, I’ve tried-” The group’s groans drowned him out. Hunk had his fingers in his ears, singing at top volume to block out whatever Lance had planned to say next.

Keith was never sure why they called it heartbreak. Maybe if it would just _break_ he wouldn’t feel this anymore- it would stop working, stop loving. 

His heart didn’t feel broken. It felt flayed alive, still beating.

He would have given _anything_ to forget about love. He would have given anything to be forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm lowkey tempted to just leave it here (hmmmm...) but Erae's got a secret and I want a happy ending. hopefully chapter two will be out by next week. Please let me know what you thought as I live on comments alone, and feel free to tell me if I made any mistakes.


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